Leg guard protector for athletes



June 9, 1964 w, FENDER I 3,135,964

LEG GUARD PROTECTOR FOR ATHLETES Filed March 26, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 9, 1964 w. F. PENDER 3,135,964

LEG GUARD PROTECTOR FOR ATHLETES Filed March 26, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Filed Mar. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 182,539 2 Claims, (Cl. 2-22) This invention relates to leg guards of the class commonly used in hockey, baseball, soccer and other sports, and more particularly the invention is concerned with a multi-purpose leg protecting means which can be conveniently altered in character to suit the particular purpose to be served in any required adaptation. The present application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 115,247, filed June 6, 1961, now abandoned.

Presently used leg guards are cumbersome to assemble and do not always fit the wearer or provide a suitable protective action at all points. It is a chief object of the invention, therefore, to deal with these problems and to improve leg protecting equipment for athletic use. Another object is to devise a combination of protector components which can be detachably secured to one another in various ways. Still another object of the invention is to provide a combination of leg guard elements and special snap fastenings which can be very quickly and conveniently utilized by athletes to change from one type of use to another. A still further object of the invention is to devise an arrangement of parts which provides for varying the curvature of the shin guard to provide for better individual fitting, as well as promoting self engaging characteristics of a desirable and novel character.

Having in mind the limitations of presently used guards, I have devised a combination of leg protecting components by means of which the foregoing objectives may be realized to a very considerable extent. An important feature of the combination is a shin guard which includes a detachable knee guard and means for conveniently varying the curvature of the shin guard in such a way that greatly improved individual fitting may be realized and, moreover, the resulting improvement in fitting makes possible a self-gripping action which tends to keep the guard in place more effectively.

Another feature of the invention is the combination of knee guard and leg calf protecting wings which can be detachably secured and used as desired for any one of several different type of sports.

The nature of the invention and various other objects and novel features will be more fully understood and appreciated from the following description of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the inside of my combination shin guard and knee protector assembly;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View more clearly showing the leg calf protector wings attached to the shin guard component;

FIGURE 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross section taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross section taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 6 is a detail cross sectional view of screw fastening means of the invention.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, numeral 2 denotes a shin guard component which consists of a relatively hard plastic material capable of being flexed to some degree and formed with a curvature designed to generally correspond to the contour of the front side of the lower leg. The lower edge of the leg guard 2 is provided with a padding 4 which is adapted to overlie the ankle region. Along its upper edge the guard 2 is further provided with a series of spaced-apart snap fastenings 6 which are adapted to engage in corresponding snap fastener portions 7 mounted in a lower edge of a knee guard 8 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

By means of the snap fastener arrangement described, the knee guard and shin guard may be detachably secured together in such a manner that they may be instantly separated or assembled with a minimum of trouble and the need for expensive stitching heretofore employed is obviated. It is also pointed out that by using the snap fastener type of assembly along the inner top edge of the shin guard as described, I may utilize different types of knee guardsrequired for different sports, with any given shin guard equipped with the fasteners and substantial increase in the wearing life of the shin guard may be realized since a worn out knee guard may be replaced without throwing away the shin guard portion which is still in good condition and similarly when the shin guard is worn severely and the knee guard is in good condition, the latter may be preserved and used' with a new shin guard. Further, is is possible for the user to buy. one standard shin guard for several different forms of knee guards so that the basic shin guard component may be used for hockey and also for baseball and soccer, as well as other sports during different seasons.

I have also introduced another desirable improvement in the shin guard component. This improvement is based on the concept of sizing or fitting the shin guard to any individual requirement. I accomplish this by using an adjustable retaining webbing or sling 10 detachably secured at the inner side of the shin guard member.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the sling 10 extends from the top to the bottom of the shin guard and is of a width such that it may be stretched between two opposite portions of the shin guard to provide a substantial protective space between itself and intermediate portions of the shin guard.

In accordance with the invention, I provide for detachably securing opposite edges of the sling 10 to adjacent inner surfaces of the shin guard 2 by means of a plurality of rows of screw fastenings. Fastenings of this type are illustrated in FIGURE 6, for example, and include a cap screw portion S and a threaded socket portion S1. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, one row of screw fastenings is comprised by the I fastenings A1, A2, A3 and A4. These fastenings are spaced along the right hand edge of the sling 10 as viewed in FIGURE 1. At the opposite edge of sling 10 is a second row of fastenings B1, B2, B3 and B4, and in close proximity to the said second row of fastenings is a third row of fastenings C1, C2, C3 and C4. I may also desire to add additional rows of fastenings at either side of the sling, if desired.

It will be apparent that with the row of fastenings A1, A2, A3 and A4 installed, it becomes possible to force the two sides of the shin guard toward one another to vary the curvature of this shin guard member and then to tightly stretch the sling so that the third row of fastenings C1, C2, C3 and C4, for example, are enabled to just engage in similarly spaced-apart screw openings in the shin guard. The sling thus held constitutes a yieldable retaining member and is designed to lie in contact with the front of the leg of the wearer and since the sling is spaced from the shin guard itself, an excellent protective action is realized. By bending the shin guard even more the second row of fastening holes B1, B2, B3, B4 may be used to thus hold the guard in a different position. Additional rows of holes may also be used to vary the extent of curving the shin guard.

In addition to this protective function, however, I may also by the bending described, provide for the shin guard assuming a snugly engaging relationship with opposite sides of the leg to an extent such that a very desirable holding action is realized. One advantage of this is that less holding force is required to maintain the shin guard in place. Secondly, the more closely the shin guard sides are fitted around the calf of the leg the less interference there is when the wearer is participating in a sport such as hockey or baseball. Such freedom of movement is particularly important when a player is skating or running at high speed.

In combination with the adjustable sling 10 for varying the curvature of the shin guard, I have combined special leg calf wings or covers 20 and 22 already referred to at an earlier point. These leg guard Wings are adapted to be formed with openings spaced so that they may be secured by the same screw fastenings which retain the sling 10. It is pointed out that the leg guard wings 20 and 22 may also be varied in position by bending the shin guard itself as described above so that these guard Wings can be fitted very snugly around the back of the leg of the user, In addition, as will be observed from an inspection of FIG- URES l, 2 and 4, the leg guard wings 20 and 22 are of curved form and preferably constructed of a thick padding material over the outer sides of which are hard plastic shields 24 and 26. It will be seen that these members, 24 and 26, may be put on and taken off as desired and thus they greatly increase the adaptability of the shin guards for meeting varying conditions arising in different types of sports such as hockey and baseball.

A still further improvement is also realized by bending the shin guard 10 and securing it in a more sharply curved position. It is pointed out that since the knee guard is secured around the inner top edge of the skin guard, it necessarily will change in curvature with the change in curvature of the shin guard as suggested in FIGURE by the broken lines in that figure. As a result an accentuated pocket 30 is formed directly in front of the knee cap which provides an increased protective action for the wearer.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an improved leg guard which can be made up of several different components in such a way as to serve a range of purposes when used in sports such as baseball, hockey, soccer, and the like; a greater protective action for some parts of the leg may be realized; a better fit and simplified holding is made possible and substantial savings and increase in useful life of the device is realized.

The invention has been described with reference to one preferred embodiment and this embodiment is intended to be illustrative of a range of other similar parts constructed in varying shapes and sizes for different types of sports.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A multi-purpose leg guard for athletes comprising a shin guard element, leg calf Wings mounted on the shin guard at opposite sides thereof, said leg calf wings being curved to fit inner and outer leg calf surfaces, screw means for detachably securing the leg calf wings to the said shin guard, a fabric sling component retained by the said screw means and extending between the sides of the shin guard in a stretched condition to hold the shin guard in a desired position of curvature and to control the fitted relationship of the leg calf Wings with respect to the leg of a user.

2. A structure according to claim 1, including a knee protector component arranged at the inner upper edge of the shin guard, a plurality of spaced-apart snap fastenings for detachably securing the knee protector in a curved position, and said sling and shin guard when in a contracted position being operative to bend the knee protector and form a convex protective pocket occurring in spaced relation to the knee cap of a wearer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 690,140 Gamble Dec. 31, 1901 1,105,569 Lacrotte July 28, 1914 1,253,260 Levinson June 15, 1918 1,264,916 Goldsmith May 7, 1918 1,607,032 Whitley Nov. 16, 1926 1,974,559 Barnes Sept. 25, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 549,080 Great Britain Nov. 5, 1942 OTHER REFERENCES Stall and Dean Athletic Equipment publication, 8- 1959 Fall and Winter, page 24 relied on. 

1. A MULTI-PURPOSE LEG GUARD FOR ATHLETES COMPRISING A SHIN GUARD ELEMENT, LEG CALF WINGS MOUNTED ON THE SHIN GUARD AT OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, SAID LEG CALF WINGS BEING CURVED TO FIT INNER AND OUTER LEG CALF SURFACES, SCREW MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THE LEG CALF WINGS TO THE SAID SHIN GUARD, A FABRIC SLING COMPONENT RETAINED BY THE SAID SCREW MEANS AND EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SIDES OF THE SHIN GUARD IN A STRETCHED CONDITION TO HOLD THE SHIN GUARD IN A DESIRED 